The Last Night in Narnia
by ANGSWIN
Summary: Tirian finds comfort in Jill's arms during the night before the final battle...Written by request for the 2017 Narnia Fic Exchange


_This story was written for **Starbrow** for the 2017 Narnia Fic Exchange. She requested a Last Battle fic about a moment on the trail with a possible Jill/Tirian pairing. The muse was willing…so I was happy to oblige! :)_

 _It is meant to be a missing scene in the otherwise canon story line - with the exception of Jill's age. That was (probably) adjusted, since we don't really know exactly how old she was in the story._

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 **The Last Night in Narnia**

Even though Tirian knew that he needed some rest, he found that he just couldn't sleep yet. He felt as if he needed to clear his head and prepare himself as much as possible for what he strongly suspected would occur on the following day. Therefore, he rolled out of his makeshift bed and decided to slip out for a short walk while his companions were getting their much needed slumber. In the dim light of the tower, his eyes picked out Poggin the Dwarf, who had made a small nest in a corner. He then also saw Eustace, who dozed by the small blaze in the rough fireplace. However, he immediately noted the empty space on the other side of the fire. Apparently, the young lady had found sleep to be too elusive, as well. Therefore, Tirian stepped out of the small stone structure and looked for her outside. He had assumed that she left the tower in order to seek comfort with their equine friends. However, he found Jewel the Unicorn quietly asleep standing right next to the outer wall and Puzzle the Donkey was stretched out alone on the ground next to Jewel. The loud snores from the direction of the ass assured Tirian that he was also soundly asleep. Therefore, since she wasn't there, he determined that Jill must have had a thought similar to his own and had decided to take a walk. He considered the available options and decided that she probably would have chosen to walk along the stream just as he had planned to do. Therefore, he started in that direction and hoped that he would cross paths with her.

As he walked, he thought about the young woman. As difficult as this situation was for him, he knew that it must have been much worse for her. After all, he had known war before. However, even though Jill was no stranger to adventure and danger, and was quite the heroine in her own right, she was not really a warrior. Even though she had recently reached the age of majority and maturity among her own people (in fact only a handful of years separated the two of them in age), she had told him that she was still in the midst of receiving her education in her own land. Therefore, try as she might, she was still much more of a scholar than a fighter. He was impressed, however, with her determination to improve her skills and to learn as much as she could in the short time that they had in order to prepare for the inevitable. However, he also sadly knew that in the end it just wouldn't matter. She was probably going to fall…and there was nothing that he or anyone else could do about it because, short of a miracle, they would all most likely share the same fate on the morrow. He could only hope that if it really happened that way, then they would all meet again in the end in Aslan's Country.

 _If only our circumstances were different!_ he thought with quite a bit of unhappiness. He knew that he had admired the lady ever since she had appeared out of nowhere and had come to his aid the first time, freeing him from the bonds that had held him to the tree _._ He was also well aware that her aforementioned determination, loyalty, ferocity of spirit, and exceptionally kind nature had drawn him towards her during their short acquaintance in a way that had never happened before with any other woman. In fact, in any other situation, he probably would have already asked for her permission to begin a courtship. However, he also remembered his history lessons and realized that they probably would have never met in more normal times. Aslan only sent help from beyond the world during Narnia's darkest hours. Therefore, Jill probably would not have been in his world during the quiet and peaceful periods when a traditional courtship would have been possible.

His thoughts were brought out of this regretful reverie with the soft sound of splashing water. He looked around and realized that after just a couple of minutes of following the shallow ribbon of the stream, he had come upon a section where the water had both widened and deepened in order to form a perfect swirling pool. He stood there for just a moment and considered a refreshing moonlit dip to clear his head before it became quite apparent that he was not alone. Someone else had apparently already found this spot earlier and had decided to do the same thing.

It was dark, but the light of the almost full moon filtered through the surrounding trees to provide a glowing, ethereal, and other-worldly quality to the scene. Tirian could have almost imagined that Jill was a river nymph as her slight and pale form, dressed only in moonlight, stood waist deep on the far side of the pool as she looked at him. Her hands had come up automatically to cover her nudity as he quietly stammered an apology for his intrusion. However, despite the embarrassment that the chivalrous king felt at catching the lady at such a moment, his eyes met hers and he felt rooted to the spot. It was impossible for him to move to leave or even to turn around to give her some privacy. After the moment stretched out into several more, the surprise in her eyes slowly evolved into something else…a want…a need…that called out to him. In fact, he felt sure that those emotions were mirrored in his own eyes. Then, she slowly lowered her hands to reveal her curvy feminine form in an unspoken invitation - and he almost forgot how to breathe. Without any conscious effort on his part, and without breaking eye contact, he took a couple of steps forward to the water's edge. Only then did he allow his eyes to sweep down as he gazed upon her loveliness and he felt his own body react strongly to the sight. He couldn't help but to realize that this was the first time that they had been truly alone during the length of their acquaintance and there had been no other time to explore the obvious attraction that had been present between them since the beginning. He also knew that this was the last calm before the storm and that neither of them were likely to survive beyond the next day. _Therefore, should we not seize this opportunity while we have a chance?_ he asked himself.

His decision was made and, therefore, he disrobed quickly. He waded out to her and eagerly gathered her up into his arms. She pressed herself against him and wrapped her arms around his neck. As soon as the cool wet skin of her torso caressed his, he knew that he was lost. Therefore, he bent his head to kiss her - gently at first - but then with increasing passion. Jill matched his ardor with enthusiasm as she reached up to fist her hands in his hair. Consequently, before long, they found themselves leaning against one of the large smooth boulders on the far side of the pool where the two of them temporarily forgot their troubles as they lost themselves in the solace and pleasure of each other's bodies.

Afterwards, all too soon, they were forced to return to reality. They redressed in silence and headed back, albeit hand-in-hand, to their little camp in the tower. Once there, as they stood in the glow of the dying fire opposite from their sleeping friend, Tirian could see the gleam of tears in Jill's eyes and knew that the same sight was reflected in his own. As he watched, a single tear slipped down her pale cheek. He traced the little wet trail down the side of her face with his thumb before he kissed her gently and pulled her down with him into the makeshift bed. He then wrapped his arms around her and whispered for her to rest while she had the chance. Soon, their bodies - completely worn out from stress, fighting, and lovemaking - fell into an exhausted slumber. Right before he completely succumbed to the siren song of sleep, however, Tirian tightened his grip on the amazing young woman in his arms and pressed a gentle kiss to her temple. She responded with a quiet sigh that caused a brief smile to grace his lips. He then realized with surprise that, despite their predicament, being with her actually soothed his troubled soul and provided more contentment than he ever could have thought was possible at such a time. In fact, his last conscious thought before he awoke the next morning was _This was definitely the best way that I could have spent my last night in Narnia!_


End file.
